The Science of Magic Part II
by Raconteur86
Summary: Loki has gone missing from Asgard, kidnapped by Thanos, Inkeri is miraculously still alive, but has lost all of her memories, and Thor is still stuck on Earth. And I am still horrible at summaries. Please read The Science of Magic Part I if you haven't already. :-)
1. Chapter 1

"Blake, hey Blake!"

Thor sat quietly in his little black and grey metal barstool, hunched over the tiny round table, picking at the remainder of his Shrimp Fra Diavolo.

It was springtime now, in Asgard. The feasts were beginning again and the tables would no doubt be adorned with so many of his favorite delicacies. His mouth watered at the memory of succulent roasted boar, the sweet spring apples, tangy cheeses, and hearty breads. Not to mention the finest honey wine and ale from the personal collection of his dear friend Volstagg.

He wondered sadly if his father had awoken from the Odinsleep, if he was still alive. Was his mother thinking of him as she weaved her golden threads at her loom late into the night as she often did? Had Loki harbored any deserved ill will toward him for his disgraceful acts as a brother?

He sighed. It had been two years. For all he knew, Loki was still king. He could be a husband now, even a father. He couldn't help but smile. He wouldn't doubt it by the way he would catch his younger brother gazing at the lady Inkeri when he thought no one else was watching.

He sincerely wished all that for his brother and more.

Thor's eyes drifted tiredly up to the warm, deep carrot colored walls of the cafe. There were softer, more comfortable chairs, just to his immediate right; but he had found that his height and size was a constant hindrance to him here, making most of the regular seating non functional.

"Hello! Donald Blake, resident Harvard genius!"

Thor turned his head to the left to see a spritely young man with a natural hair color that was a bright enough orange to nearly match the walls making his way through the rows of bar height tables to his own.

He grinned and stood, very gently clasping the man's hand and upper arm. He had learned all too unfortunately that even though he was without most of his powers, how careful he still must be with the humans.

"Jake, you look well. I take it you enjoyed your holiday. And might I add, your epidermis does not resemble that of a crustacean as it did last year this time."

The second year med student who was Jake Kelly rolled his eyes at his large blonde friend.

"If I've told you once, Don, I'll tell you again; you should've considered acting. I'm sure the Royal Shakespeare Company could find room for you in their ranks."

Thor laughed heartily and swiped his slate gray messenger bag from its place on the floor, slinging it over his shoulder. He then picked up his plate, brought it to the nearby garbage receptacle and scraped it clean.

"If one day you ever should meet my brother, friend Jake, you will realize that it is he that would take to the Shakespearian roles."

"Ha. I can't imagine anyone else who belongs in a period film more than you. So what's been going on here since I left? Anything happen with Jane? What about Darcy, has she mentioned me?"

The two began a short walk out of the cafe through the New Research Building, which lead to the conference center.

"Jane toils in her lab, and Darcy and Eric still assist. They are my good friends, and I am grateful to be able to rent a room from them while they go about their research."

Thor had long ago learned that it would be considered improper and quite odd if he continued to refer to the females of this planet as "Lady so-and-so" or even worse, "maidens". Although, occasionally, he did still have an uncomfortable slip of the tongue.

Jake, who felt like he was ever running to keep up with Donald's long legged purposeful stride, scuttled in front of him to put them both at a dead stop.

"So basically you answered one out of my three questions."

Thor laughed and good naturedly pushed passed his friend as he approached the conference center to check that afternoon's speaker and topic of discussion.

"Jane is, well, Jane is my friend. And Darcy did mention you."

"Oh?" The redhead nonchalantly leaned on the wall next to the center's bulletin board and pretended to pick at a lint ball on his worn gray college tee shirt.

"Interesting, it looks like there is to be a talk on cell pathology. I think I'll attend."

"Don! C'mon man, what did she say?"

Thor began to walk again, down a hall leading to one of the lecture rooms.

"She said that you were- talkative." He finally replied, as they entered the room through wide windowless double doors.

"Talkative?" Jake exclaimed into the silent room, just as twenty other med students looked up from their books and various devices. Thankfully the speaker had not yet arrived.

He winced as they both took a seat close to the front.

"Ok, fine, I guess I am talkative." He acknowledged in a much softer voice. "But I can be quiet too. Quiet is the new me. Quiet is sexy."

Thor nodded knowingly with a twinkle in his eye and pulled a small notebook computer out of his bag.

The truth was, he knew everything there was to know about Midgardian physiology. He had learned about all of the creatures of the nine realms in his royal tutelage as a boy. As next in line to the throne, his studies had been rigorous and difficult, more so than that of a normal Aesir child.

But he was grateful for the second chance he had been given. He was thrilled to have three true companions in this realm who knew of his real identity. Along with them, he did trust the agent Son of Coul, even if he did not reserve that privilege for many of the other S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel.

As the speaker came onstage and began to drone out his unpleasant soliloquy, Thor let his thoughts wander to that fateful night in New Mexico.

They hadn't believed him at first, of course. Who would have? Thor, the God of Thunder and Protector of the Nine Realms. It was ridiculous to these people. He had instantly wished that he had been sent back to a different epoch when times were better and he and his kind were still worshiped on this planet. He had not visited for hundreds of years and in truth, thought that the humans were still as backward as ever.

He had been proven wrong, however, upon seeing that their technologies, weapons, and even their building structures had changed immensely.

It had been a great shock to him to learn of his dampened powers, sitting in that interrogation room, a muddy mess, with Mjolnir only meters away.

He thought then, to Loki, and Sif. That was the last time he had ever seen either of them, that he may ever see them again.

He felt a nudge at his side and looked over to see Jake eyeing the blank screen of his laptop. He shrugged in response and powered on the device, pulling up a word document. He began to type short notes as the speaker carried on, most of his theories silly and incorrect.

Thankfully, his intelligence had not been diminished, so he could muse and type at the same time.

That night, on the last night that he saw his brother, Coulson had miraculously released him based on information from a fake Identification Card and a ruse carefully created by Erik and Jane.

It was meant as a joke, Dr. Donald Blake, medical doctor turned scientist, drunk and mad over a lost lover or some such nonsense. But it had worked, or at least they thought it had, giving S.H.I.E.L.D. the time they needed to spy out the planet Earth's new guest.

In that short period of time, three extremely important discoveries were made on Midgard.

One: Through satellite imaging and Jane Foster's recording equipment, images had been taken of a man falling from seemingly nowhere through the sky to the dirty desert floor of Puente Antiguo, New Mexico.

Two: There is such a thing as an interplanetary wormhole.

Three: Aliens existed.

The third one, although not much of a surprise for most, had been a little hard for some of them to swallow, and Jane had later explained to him with a shudder that he should be glad that the powers that be had not opened him up for display in some barbaric underground research lab.

The humans had, however, poked and prodded him. They took great vials of his blood and made him sit still as he was slid through noisy, clanking machines and they examined each and every inch of his not-so-human body.

He had endured their efforts, however, with great patience on his part. The whole time, his only request to their endless testing was that Jane would be there with him. The tiny human woman had a calming effect on his mood, and had been a great friend throughout his whole ordeal.

Eventually, when they had taken every last drop of his Aesir blood they could take without damaging him, and when they had finished the last of the testing and clanking and prodding, then the long rounds of questions began.

Where was he from? What did he want from the planet Earth? Was he friendly, or was he an enemy?

Most of these questions had come from S.H.I.E.L.D.'s very own Director Nick Fury.

And he had told them all the truth: that he was here to be punished, that his people were a race of powerful beings that had no quarrel with Midgard.

Naturally, the humans were deeply concerned at the thought of harboring some otherworldly criminal, but through Jane's and Erik's urgings to the director, they were able to convince him that Thor may be of some practical use, especially with Jane's research into wormhole physics.

He may have also promised them that they could eventually recreate a stable bridge, leading them back to Asgard.

What he did not tell them, however, was that he did not know if this was at all possible, considering the vast difference in technology between their two worlds.

Agent Coulson had also told him that if he were to seek refuge on their planet, that he would have to use his superior alien intelligence make himself useful in some way. Learn to be a part of their society. He had never dreamed that he would be taking this path in his life during that specific conversation, nor ever to be exact.

The fact of the matter was, Thor had always had the ability to heal himself, as did many others on his world, but until recently, he never knew that he had certain talents that catered to the medicinal arts. It wasn't his fault. Although he had seen many injured on the battlefield, he was after all, a prince, and it was not his job to cater to the needs of the injured or sick.

One night, however, back in Puente Antiguo, after he and Erik had drunk one too many boilermakers at the town bar, one of the locals had finally put his seemingly never ending patience to the test.

Sam Neders had always been suspicious of outsiders. He had long bragged that his ancestors had been living in New Mexico since before the land even became an American Territory. Why, his great-great-great-great grandmother herself was one of the ancestral Acoma Pueblo People. So, naturally, unlike most of the town's few thousand inhabitants, Sam had not been welcoming of the three odd scientists and the strangely speaking Nordic Giant that had graced their presence. They made him feel like change was coming soon. Sam didn't particularly agree with change. In fact, one could go as far to say that he hated it.

So, on a night when Samuel Matthew Neders had drunk one too many whiskey sours, and the

Giant and his friend were perched in their usual position at the bar, singing drinking songs in some foreign, ancient sounding language, he decided to take matters into his own hands.

Which turned out to be a poor decision on his part.

It had all started out innocently enough with a staggered approach, and a tap on the shoulder. He had just rather forcefully told the brute to go back where he came from. "Go home!" He had said. That was all.

He had not expected the jolly man to turn into someone so disagreeable. Nor had he expected the swift blow to the jaw from said man.

Thor, of course, remembered everything from the encounter; The look of shock in that little man's beady eyes, the gasps from other bar goers as he fell to the ground unconscious, how much shame he had felt. He had never wanted to hurt any of them. But even he had a breaking point, and apparently, after all that had happened on Asgard and Midgard, one too many alcoholic beverages and a song that brought him back to the glory days with his beloved brother, Sif, and the Warriors Three was all that was needed to take him there.

As Erik had tried to convince him to leave immediately so as not to get in any more trouble than he already was in, and the bartender called an ambulance, a strange compulsion to touch the man had come over him.

Bending down, he gently touched his fingers to Ned's face, taking stock of the injuries.

"He has a few broken teeth and a slight concussion. With rest, all will be right in a fortnight or so."

Erik, who had now taken to arguing with the bartender about pressing one's charges, whatever that meant, had stopped and bent down as well, regarding him incredulously.

"I thought your 'powers' were gone." He whispered, examining the man for himself.

"Of course they are, otherwise this fool would be dead." He growled back, not bothering to speak quietly.

After a brief inspection of poor Ned, Erik, who had also seen his fair share of fights-which is another story for another time-hoisted his large friend out the back door before the authorities came.

"How did you do that? Back in the bar?" Erik questioned as soon as they were safe in one of the small town's many back alleys.

"Do what?"

"It's like you knew just by looking at him what was wrong. That he was fine."

"So?" Thor stopped them both, confused.

"So, you can't know just by looking. You have to run tests, do x rays, that kind of stuff."

"Well I have always known in those situations. I have seen many an injured comrade on the battlefield. I cannot explain how that sort of thing works."

Erik had pushed them to continue walking, appraising him thoughtfully from time to time.

"What is it, friend Erik?" Thor had wondered aloud as they approached the door to the little house.

"Nothing, and don't feel bad about Neders. He had it coming."

Erik hesitated for a moment, and smiled as they entered the house where Jane and Darcy sat working at a nearby table as if finally coming to a conclusion.

"Jane, I think we found a way for our visitor to contribute to society."

And that was how Asgard's Golden Prince found himself here, halfway across the country in the city of Boston, Massachusetts. First Year Med Student Donald Blake, in Harvard University by day, Thor Odinson Wormhole Engineer by night.

Jane, Darcy, Erik, and Thor were put on contract by S.H.I.E.L.D. and were given everything and more that they needed to complete their task.

He was busy, he had found friends in these people, and for the first time ever, he wanted to help someone.

But the nights were long, and oh so cruel, every one of them being more or less the same. He would lie in bed, gazing up to the stars through his small window and wonder where his family was.

He hoped it would not be too much longer before he saw them again.

A/N- Sorry this is so un-beta'd. Lol. Also, don't worry, we will see what's going on with the two star attractions in the next chapter.


	2. Chapter 2

Night was never ending.

Pain was a welcome relief.

The cycle was constant.

Heat.

Cold.

Pain.

Darkness.

It had always been this way, had it not?

Heat. Cold. Pain. Darkness.

With a sudden panicked gasp, he held up a hand in the dark. Fingers wiggled and flexed. His wrist was attached.

How many times had he lost his hand, his leg, his eyes? Was it even real?

He laughed aloud into the blackness, not caring who heard.

Heat. Cold. Pain. Darkness.

He let his hand drop to his bare chest. They had taken his clothes along with his dignity long ago. It was nothing new. His fingers traced the raised lines along his chest and stomach.

Those scars were real.

Something was real.

Nothing was real.

The cold metal from his wrist touched his belly and he was brought back to reality for a brief moment.

The only thing they couldn't take from him.

The only magic he had left.

The only piece of her.

He couldn't even remember her name.

A tear escaped the corner of his eye and trickled, unbidden down his cheek..

Heat. Cold. Pain. Darkness.

How long had it been?

It had been forever.

He smiled, cold and soulless. He sensed that he was no longer alone.

"You are ready."

He nodded, his smile growing ever wider, his mind carrying him further from sanity than he ever thought possible.

"I am ready." Loki echoed.

They gave him clothes. They gave him a scepter. They showed him the portal. The rest was up to him now.

Their army stood at the ready, and they would not be left wanting.


End file.
